The Immunity of Malibu Oceanfront Homes

Residents of oceanfront mansions in affluent beach communities in Malibu, Calif. have to share their beachfront with the public; despite the increased public access, experts say oceanfront home values will not be impacted.

All beaches in California are considered public. They only seem private if a public access point is remote, government officials told Mansion Global.

The California Coastal Commission officially opened a public path to Malibu’s Carbon Beach last week, allowing the public to enjoy the sandy backyards near the luxury beach mansions of the rich and famous.

Under the new law that took effect last week, the California Coastal Commission will for the first time have the authority to impose fines on violators who block access to the beach. The commission can fine residents up to $11,250 a day for obstructing public access, according the commission’s July press release.

Residents on affluent Newport Beach and Carbon Beach have been accused of landscaping and creating other barrier to deter public access.

“I think it’s fair to say that most the residents in these homes would like as little intrusion as possible on what they perceived to be their beachfront. The land is public once you pass the mean high tide land, ” said Paul Habibi, a tenured lecturer at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

The lack of privacy will not impact coastal home prices because of the finite supply of high-end beach homes.

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“Because that market has been so robust in its growth already, it’s certainly not suffering.” Habibi said. “There has been such a surge in price in high-end property values in Southern California.”

Beachfront properties along the scenic coast of Malibu are in finite supply with homes ranging between $6 million and $30 million, said Shen Schulz, Sotheby’s International Realty agent who sells luxury homes in the Malibu area.

Schulz says that the price for high-end oceanside property in Malibu has never really gone down and increases around 20% to 25% a year.

The biggest limitation for creating a greater supply of coastal real estate is the California Coastal Commission - the same agency that ensures public accessibility to the Golden State’s beaches also welds decision-making power on development and building permits, Habibi said.

“It is very difficult to build coast real estate across the state and for that reason property values are soaring,” the UCLA lecturer added.

The city of Malibu is also a slow growth town that stifles a lot of development, Schulz said.

Some of the coastal development in Malibu for luxury residential property is in an incorporated part of the city in Ventura County, which has a different set of zoning laws.

Marisol Malibu, a development more than a decade in the making, has built a string of high-end, single-family homes on plots near the Pacific Highway that overlook the Ventura County surf break.

The exterior of a Marisol Malibu development. MarisolMalibu.com

“We get people who don’t want urban Malibu where the plots are small,” said Richard Morris, the founder of Marisol Malibu, who says his development has exceptional privacy.

Marisol Malibu has already constructed 11 ocean view mansions, and has two remaining projects – a 13,000 square foot residence at $25 million and a 10,000 square foot single-story home with an infinity edge pool for over $15 million.

The master bedroom of a Marisol Malibu development. MarisolMalibu.com

“Once we sell out, that’s going to be it. There is not going to be any other new development in our area.”